We also spoke with another of Japan’s national representatives and champion of World Cosplay Summit 2012, Yukari Shimotsuki of the team “Shikon,” who was one of the judges at the Kyushu Qualifying Round for the World Cosplay Summit 2015.

Q: What was it like taking part in the Kyushu Qualifying Round of the World Cosplay Summit 2015?

Yukari Shimotsuki (hereafter referred to as Shimotsuki): This was my first time visiting Kyushu. It was unlike other cosplayer events in that most of the attendees weren’t cosplayers but just regular people, but they all watched on warmly and pleasantly, going “Woah, what’s that?” and chitter-chattering; it was really great to see. Normally, if people saw people dressed like that in their neighborhood, they would probably want to report them to the police, but when you have a city organizing an event like this, it doesn’t leave a bad impression with the regular public, so I think it’s a really great thing for the cosplay industry.

Q: Have you participated in pop culture events other than the cosplay variety? And how long have you been cosplaying?

Shimotsuki: I’ve been to pop culture events overseas numerous times. I’ve been cosplaying now for 7 years.

Q: So when you became the world champion in 2012, you would’ve only been cosplaying for about 3 years? What was your costume at that time?

Shimotsuki: That’s right. Shinsengumi was a hot topic at the time and I cosplayed as Toshizo Hijikata, the main character from an otome game called “Hakuoki.”

Q: Do you make the video clips yourselves?

Shimotsuki: This one we did, yes. At this time, we formed a team with a director who put the video together for us. The background is entirely computer generated. It’s done on a green screen.

Q: It’s just like a movie. Did you have to learn anything to perform the action sequences?

Shimotsuki: Yes, I do tate (theatrical combat).

Q: Could you tell us about your costume today and the design?

Shimotsuki: Firstly, the original work is called “Touken Ranbu” and the character is “Jiroutachi.” I’m dressed as a woman but the character is actually a man. As for the design, it probably doesn’t look it, but this was actually quite difficult to make.

Q: Are the geta sandals handmade, too?

Shimotsuki: Not exactly handmade but traditional geta aren’t this high so I had to raise the base myself, which was quite a difficult task in itself. I affixed a strong urethane board to the base to give it height.

Q: Was the gold design on the geta done by hand?

Shimotsuki: Yes. “Touken Ranbu” is a game about swords that are depicted as young men, so there are short swords, long swords, and various types of swords throughout the game. This one is a large war sword, so the blade itself is quite big. In the game, the character Jiroutachi is 190cm tall. The thick-based geta help to make me taller.

Q: What are your hopes for the Cosplay Summit after taking part in the Kyushu Qualifying Round for the 2016 Summit?

Shimotsuki: This was a first for Kyushu and I hope winning team “horizon” do their absolute best. They cosplayed one of my favorite works, their outfits and modeling was top-notch, and they’re the first ever Kyushu representatives so I’ll be cheering for them, quietly hoping that they make it to national representatives as well. I also thought that their love for the original work really shone through in their performance. Their reenactment was based on over-exaggerated movements that you see in the game, but you would never be able to communicate all those movements unless you really understood the original content, so it was just a whole lot of fun to watch. They demonstrated the greatest love for the original work and I that’s probably what won them the round in the end.

Q: What do you think is the appeal of the Cosplay Summit?

Shimotsuki: If you become the Japanese representative, you’re basically the best in Japan. And if you go on to win the championship, you’re basically the best in the world. Very rarely do you get to be the best in the world at anything in life, so it’s a great honor. A lot of people don’t know that there’s a world tournament for cosplay, so instead of the lackluster responses you get from people when you tell them that you do cosplay, when you can tell them “Oh, and I’m no.1 in the world,” then they’re like, “What?! For real?!”

Q: Has anything changed for you prior to appearing at the Cosplay Summit and after it?

Shimotsuki: I was one of those people who was like, “Foreign countries are scary, foreigners are scary, I can’t speak English,” so I never thought I would be one to ever leave Japan. But when you cosplay and you’re into otaku things, I found out that if you like the same things you can communicate without language. During my time (2012), there were still only 22 countries participating, so 22 national representative teams, that means a total of 44 participants. And with all 44 people assembled together in a room, when you come across a team cosplaying a work that you’re familiar with, I learned that I could go up to them and say something like, “This cosplay is I like,” and still be understood with just broken English and gestures. It was an invaluable experience for me. From then on I’ve been lucky enough to be invited to events all around the world. It really broadened my horizons. That was the biggest change for me.

Q: Have you made friends overseas?

Shimotsuki: I wouldn’t say I’ve made heaps of friends, but I have developed strong bonds with a number of people who I now consider my close friends. We don’t exactly understand each other most of the time, but we make it work with broken language. I have one good friend in Indonesia, and even though were quite far apart, we both upload videos of ourselves to each other which we use to practice routines, so when I visited Indonesia we were able to do a performance together, and it’s experiences like this and being able to cosplay beyond my own national borders that has been invaluable for me.

Q: What do you think of cosplay overseas?

Shimotsuki: The overall quality overseas in definitely higher than anything I’ve seen at events in Japan, and all the cosplayers I’ve seen overseas all seem to regard each other as incredible. Plus the performances are awesome overseas and they generate far more excitement than the ones in Japan. And they all have a blast doing it.

Q: Has your opinion of cosplay changed much from when you started 7 years ago to now?

Shimotsuki: Yeah, it’s changed quite a lot. I can’t accept it when things are done by halves now. When I think back to my first cosplay I think, “Why? That wasn’t right at all.” It’s all about precision in the replication for me now. The more you do it, the more meticulous you become.

Q: What were your first impressions of Kitakyushu and Fukuoka prefecture? Are there any places you would like to visit while you’re here?

Shimotsuki: The first thing that comes to mind is Hakata tonkotsu ramen. You see Hanamaru Daikichi on TV quite regularly these days, so it seemed like a really great place and I wanted to go to a yatai stall when I came. I went last night actually; I couldn’t help myself. I had ramen at a yatai in Kokura. It really stinks, doesn’t it? But the smell is also what’s so irresistible about it. Yatai here have everything from ramen to oden to even ohagi. It’s a surprising selection. They have everything that I love to eat. They’re places where strangers come to interact. It’s fun that yatai are these communication hubs where you can go and meet new people.

Q: Do you have a message for the winning team “horizon” or all the cosplay fans out there?

Shimotsuki: Cosplay started out as a rather niche activity, but it has grown into the exciting and stylish hobby that it has become today. I hope it continues to develop and permeate through the world on an even greater scale. I don’t think you have to be overambitious about it, though, so long as you’re doing what you like to do in the way you like to do it. You can get citizenship if the population increases, so let’s all do it together!